This invention is directed to the field of fireplace covers and the particular item is known as a fire board. Fire boards are useful items and have been used for centuries to cover the fire and still radiate heat into the building. The fire board of this invention is not intended to be used with a roaring fire, but rather after the fire has essentially died down and the family wishes to retire to other portions of the home. When the fire has died down leaving coals or smoldering logs, the flue must remain open or the gasses issuing from the coals will suffocate the inhabitants of the home. Dousing the fire with water is not effective to eliminate the noxious gasses and the flue must remain open until the coals are completely out and the vapors are no longer issuing from the remnants of the fuel. Without the use of this invention the heat from the home is allowed to escape up the chimney all night making the use of the fireplace prohibitively expensive in this day of rising fuel costs. The loss of heat up the chimney during the night more than offsets any savings from the fireplace during its use.
Prior fire boards do not fulfill the needs hereinabove or the objects described hereinabove. The original fire boards were of cast iron and intended to be left in place most of the time. Later fire boards are not collapsible or do not have the advantages of being held in position as in the present invention.
Typical fire boards constructed and designed to cover the fire and radiate heat are described in U.S. Pat. No. 176,363 to E. G. Schwarz, U.S. Pat. No. 419,064 to H. D. Peursell, U.S. Pat. No. 552,282 to W. E. Fitch, U.S. Pat. No. 624,984 to M. L. Scanlon, U.S. Pat. No. 1,475,886 to B. S. Rowe and U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,590,396 and 1,606,112 to J. H. Sutton. Typical fireplace fronts are described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,398,240 to G. Merryweather, et al, and U.S. Pat. No. 3,162,198 to T. C. Tompers. These fronts are typically faced with glass framed in metal. Such construction requires a substantial space between the glass and the metal to allow for the differences in the coefficients of thermal expansion between the glass and the metal. These spaces, totaled together provide for significant heat loss after the fire has died down. Such construction might have as many as 16 sides on the glass plates, adding up to as much as 40 lineal feet with a one-eighth inch opening. The heat loss up the chimney through these openings is substantial. More recently, fireplace closures have been described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,789,825 to L. O. Reiner and U.S. Pat. No. 3,888,232 to C. A. LeBrun. Neither of these devices provides the capabilities of collapsing for storage, provide attachment without marring the inside surface of the fireplace or satisfy the objects hereinbelow.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,894,527, Ickes describes a cover for circulating fireplace registers to prevent thermal losses when the home is heated in the winter or during air-conditioned summer usage. The Ickes apparatus includes a plate supported over the fireplace by means of magnets.
These prior art units require special types of fireplace installations or require direct attachment to the fireplace or deface the fireplace in some fashion. None of these units provide for the fold-up, portability and ease of the attachment of the present invention.
It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a draft shield in the form of a fire board which will cover the fireplace opening.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a fireplace shield that may be folded up and easily stored away from the fireplace opening.
It is an additional object of this invention to provide a fire board with a holding means to hold the board in the opening after the draft is gone.
It is a further object of this invention that the holder not deface the fireplace opening in any way and touches the opening only on the inside of the firebox.
It is a further object of this invention that the connector be adapted to any size opening and any thickness of the face of the fireplace.
It is a particular object of this invention to provide a fire board type device to cover the opening of a fire place after the fire has essentially died down and is no longer needed.
It is a particular object of this invention to provide a fire board type device that will provide up to ninety-five percent efficiency in preventing warm air from rising up the chimney after the fire has essentially died down.
It is the object of this invention to provide a device that will be held against the hot fireplace as a result of the heat remaining in the fireplace but will remain affixed to the fireplace opening as the fire box cools and the draft disappears.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a fire board type device which may be left in place after the fire box has cooled completely, or may be removed and placed in storage for later use.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a fire board type device that prevents blow back from wind down the chimney blowing ashes into the home.
And finally, it is a most important object of this invention to provide a safety device which prevents coals from being ejected from the fire box into the home from glowing logs or other fuel after the inhabitants of the home have left the area of the fireplace.
These and other objects have been attained in the present invention which accomplishes the needs described hereinabove.